The Spread Eagle Hotel

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The 2011/12 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

With the very specific but still impressive title of 'Scotland's oldest continually licensed hotel', the Spread Eagle's five letting rooms and public areas were refurbished in 2006 and it opened for dining in 2007. Although the public bar downstairs is fairly plain, the hotel dining room on the first floor is a brighter, more welcoming proposition, expanding its remit beyond the obvious hotel breakfasts and into bar meals. The choice is a standard pub selection, incorporating soup of the day, chicken liver pâté with toast and beef nachos on the starter list. Main courses involve a similar mixture of the traditional and the more acceptably eclectic, with curry of the day and chicken tarragon joining Scottish salmon in a balsamic marinade, locally sourced steak, and a token mushroom stroganoff. Not so much destination dining as a worthy place to pitch up should you be travelling in the Borders.

• High point: Historic town location should be of note to tourists and sightseers
• Low point: Dining area has the ambience of a hotel breakfast room